All I Can Do
by gleefan13
Summary: Brittany wasn't lying when she said Coach Beiste was touching her but no one finds out until months later, at which point everyone struggles to come to terms with what has happened and to help her cope.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a story I wrote in response to a prompt at the Glee Angst Meme over at livejournal awhile back. There were certain parts of the story that I wasn't exactly one hundred percent happy with, so I thought I would fix those up and repost the story here. That being said, I'm going to post as I edit my way through it but it shouldn't take very long for the whole thing to be up. Also, as an aside, I kind of feel bad about Coach Beiste being the "villain" in this story because I sort of think she is awesome but I guess that's why they call it "fiction".**

_**Chapter 1**_

Kurt is in the cafeteria line when he hears, Mercedes is standing next to him and they share a look before abandoning their lunch trays and bee lining it out of the cafeteria. Kurt thinks that this can't possibly be true, it must be a mistake or, more likely, someone spreading a rumour, it is high school after all. He tries to convince himself that everything is going to be perfectly fine but then he cringes slightly at this obvious lie because, either way, he is fairly certain that Santana is going to be kicking someone's ass. Turns out someone beats Santana to the ass kicking and later when Kurt finds out who, he has pretty much never been more shocked in his entire life.

Mercedes is not really sure where Kurt is leading them but she knows they need to find some, if not all, of the other Glee kids ASAP because surely one of them will know what is going on. She reaches for Kurt's arm and he halts his sprint down the hallway to look at her, "Kurt boy slow down a bit, I can't keep up. Plus I think we should try the choir room, I know sometimes Mike and Tina go in there to practice dancing during lunch".

Kurt doesn't say anything right away and, she's not sure why, but she has sneaking suspicion that he his trying not to cry. Finally he responds, smiling cheakily, he tells her "ya I'm sure what they're doing everyday at lunch is practicing their dance moves, but okay, lets check the choir room". So they head off in that direction.

xxxxxx

When the secretary calls him down to the office saying that there is a problem with one of his kids, he just puts away the papers he is grading and heads in that direction. It's not the first time he's been called down to sort out some issue relating to a glee kid and Will figures it probably won't be the last. That all being said, he certainly doesn't rush to the office, he's not even worried.

Sue on the other hand does rush, not because she's worried, worrying is for the weak and Sue Sylvester is the exact opposite of weak, but because her philosophy is to rush everywhere. Rushing makes people think that whatever you are doing is important and people better damn well think that whatever she is doing is important. After all, she is Sue Sylvester and everything she does is important.

Even though Sue is rushing and he isn't, Will still makes it to the office first. Will knows something is seriously wrong as soon as he steps into Figgins' office. Emma doesn't even smile at him when he comes in the door, it looks like Quinn has been crying, and Figgins is holding that cheerleading doll again. A million questions pop into his head but he doesn't get the chance to ask any of them before Sue comes storming through the door letting it slam behind her.

"This better be important because I was just in the middle of plotting ways to destroy Will's life, most of which involved shaving off his hair, and I don't take to kindly to being interrupted" Sue spurts.

Will shakes his head at her and is about to say something when he is interrupted by Emma. "Sue," she starts "I can assure you that this is important".

"So Ella, why exactly are you here then?" Sue retorts.

"Sue, I'm the guidance counselor, you know that."

"And you think one my Cheerios needs guidance? From you? Did you forget that I have a Masters in counseling? I'm pretty sure it is preposterous to think that…"

Sue's rant gets cut off by Principal Figgins "Enough Sue, this is a very serious matter," he pauses briefly looking at the two cheerleaders sitting side by side on the couch, "It has come to our attention that Coast Beiste has been inappropriately touching Brittany."

Will is the first to react, though his response is barely coherent, "wh..wh..what?" After a moment he finally manages to formulate a sentence, "I thought we had this conversation months ago. Sue made her say that Coach Beiste touched her, but it didn't really happen right?"

"It was never proven that I made anyone say anything" Sue pipes in.

"Sue, Will, you're not really helping," Emma says calmly and then turns to the girls on the couch. Quinn is watching Brittany intently and Brittany, for her part, seems to be staring at the wall, her expression making it unclear what exactly she is thinking. "Quinn why don't you explain again what happened."

Quinn sighs, this will be the third time she's told this story today and she really doesn't know why someone else can't just summarize but with one last glance at Brittany she obliges. "I was heading to Math class when I realized I was missing my math book, it wasn't in my locker so I figured that maybe it fell out of my back pack in the locker room this morning after Cheerios practice, so I went back to get it," she pauses trying to pull her thoughts together, she knows she's rambling, "Coach Beiste and Brittany were there and" she takes a breath, "Coach Beiste had her hand up Brittany's shirt." Quinn feels Brittany shudder beside her and she almost stops there but Sue is now glaring at her and Quinn is pretty sure if she doesn't finish Sue might actually physically harm her.

"I was about to interrupt when the bell rang and Coach Beiste let Brittany go. Beiste didn't see me so I thought it would be better if I just took Brittany and brought her to Ms. Pillsbury." Quinn ends the story quickly, skipping what happens before she takes Brittany to Ms. Pillsbury. She almost starts crying again as she thinks of the look on Brittany's face when she questioned her in the empty classroom she had led them to. The way the taller blonde had shifted nervously from foot to foot and refused to make eye contact along with her soft spoken confused "it's just boobs right?" answer will probably haunt Quinn for awhile but she stops herself before she actually does start crying. After all, she isn't pregnant anymore, she doesn't have any excuse for emotional outbursts.

Emma thinks that she can almost see the steam coming out of Sue's ears, but once again it is Will who speaks up first, "Brittany, how long has this been going on?"

Brittany turns her head slowly away from the spot she has been staring at on the wall and blinks at him for a moment, her face sporting an expression that Will can only describe as 'Brittany', before answering, "when did school start?"

Will's face falls slightly, he had convinced himself during Quinn's retelling of events that this was a one time thing, some kind of misunderstanding, anything but the truth, because prolonged abuse, how is he supposed to deal with this? How is he supposed to help her with this? And now her answer to his question just breaks his heart because if this has been going on since the start of school then that day when he sat beside her in this office and told her that she needed to tell the truth, she had been. "Brittany, when we talked about this before, why did you change your answer and say that you made it up if you didn't?"

Now Brittany looks more confused, like maybe she can't remember the before that he's talking about, but finally she answers, "Ruining someone's life is bad right?" She says it like it's a question and she's looking at him like he has all the answers. Will can feel the guilt pressing on his chest and he is pretty sure that he has never felt worse than this in his entire life, and that's saying something.

Will's not sure what to say now but luckily Sue's finally managed to find her voice and she's yelling, "this is outrageous, preposterous, heinous," she's pointing her finger at Principal Figgins, "if you would have just listened to me and fired that monster of a women when I told you to then we wouldn't have this problem now would we? This proves my point that my advice should be taken above all else! Whatever I say goes, no questions asked, from here on out!"

"Sue I think you might be scaring Brittany" Emma says gently. All eyes turn to Brittany, who, to be fair, hasn't actually moved at all during Sue's rampage.

"Poppycock," Sue says, "my Cheerios are tough, they don't scare that easily," she turns back to Figgins, "have you called the police yet? Scratch that, call the National Guard!"

"Like tanks and stuff?" Quinn interrupts.

"Your right Q," Sue considers, "tanks aren't menacing enough, there's only one thing tougher than the National Guard and that's one Sue Sylvester," with that she turns around and marches out the door throwing one last comment over her shoulder as she exits, "I'll take care of this."

"Sue wait," Figgins calls after her but he knows that it's hopeless.

"It's alright, I'll go after her," Will says heading for the door too.

Emma waits a moment and then decides that she better go after them, she has a feeling that this may turn out very badly. She turns to Figgins, "I think I'm going to go check on them," she tells him before leaving.

Principal Figgins looks over at the two blonde hair cheerleaders remaining in the room and sighs. This is going to be a long day, he thinks to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This is a story I wrote in response to a prompt at the Glee Angst Meme over at livejournal awhile back. There were certain parts of the story that I wasn't exactly one hundred percent happy with, so I thought I would fix those up and repost the story here. That being said, I'm going to post as I edit my way through it but it shouldn't take very long for the whole thing to be up. Also, as an aside, I kind of feel bad about Coach Beiste being the "villain" in this story because I sort of think she is awesome but I guess that's why they call it "fiction".**

_**Chapter 2**_

Kurt and Mercedes do find Mike and Tina in the choir room but they don't know what's going on either. Worse, they hadn't actually even heard the rumour, so all Kurt and Mercedes have managed to do is worry them.

"It's not true right?" Tina asks her brow furrowed in either worry or confusion.

"I don't know," Mercedes answers, "I just don't see why Jacob would make something like this up."

"Especially about a Cheerio," Kurt pipes up, "I mean, saying anything at all about Brittany that isn't 'she's hot' is a sure fire way to get your ass kicked."

"Ya," Mike agrees, "we really need to find Santana, and probably Puck too, before someone gets murdered".

"That's the part I don't get," Kurt adds, "Brittany doesn't exactly have a mental filter. Don't you think if this were true Santana would have already killed someone?"

xxxxxxx

By the time Emma catches up to Sue and Will they've already made it to Coach Beiste's office.

Sue doesn't waste anytime, she's barely made it through the door before she is already shouting, "you evil, evil, monster! How dare you touch one of my Cheerios! There is a special place in hell for you and you'll be begging to go there when I'm done with you. You might be a panther but I am something much much scarier…a cheerleading coach who has won five straight national titles and who won't stand for anyone derailing her hopes of a sixth. Brittany's talent is essential to my routines and I'll be dammed if I stand by a let you mess with her."

Coach Beiste takes a step towards the trio, "I don't know what you're talking about" she says, "I thought you learned your lesson about lying Sue." Though she is denying the claims, the way her face has paled and her hands quiver betray her.

"Don't even pretend you didn't do it," Will tells her. He watches her for a moment before he asks what he really wants to know "How could you? She's just a child".

Coach Beiste's shoulders sag a bit and the trio are surprised when she admits to what she has done with out more prodding, "starting this job was just so stressful, and no one was nice to me, and…"

"Shut up!" Sue yells, "You coward! You don't think the rest of us are stressed? I have to look at Will's ridiculous hair do everyday but I don't use that as an excuse to go around groping students!"

Now Coach Beiste is getting defensive, "you know what, it doesn't matter why, all that matters is that no one is going to believe her, you pretty much guaranteed that with that stunt you pulled three weeks ago Sue," Beiste is smirking at her, "plus Brittany sometimes forgets how to spell her own name, how easy do you think it's going to be to convince everyone that she made it up."

Coach Beiste doesn't get to go any further because Will's fist is connecting with her face.

When it becomes clear that Will isn't stopping with just one punch Emma speaks up, "Will that's enough! I don't think getting yourself arrested is going to help Brittany very much."

Will gets in one more punch before stopping and stepping back.

"Come on let's go," Emma suggests pointing towards the door. Will and Sue don't seem willing to leave and she thinks she knows why, so she turns to Beiste who is trying to get her bleeding nose to stop, "if I were you I would start packing my stuff. Oh and the police are going to want to talk to you, I would suggest co-operating or I think we can come up with something worse than a bloody nose to inflict on you." She doesn't raise her voice or even attempt to specify what this worse something is but, strangely enough, it comes out as one of the most menacing things Will has ever heard. With that Emma turns around and walks out, she is relieved to see that Sue and Will are following her.

"Nice right hook there Schuester," Sue says, "didn't think you had it in you." Almost as an afterthought she adds, "you could have been a little tougher in there Emma, but not bad for a ginger." Even though it's kind of an insult Emma smiles a bit, it's the first time Sue's ever gotten her name right.

"So what do we do now?" Will asks.

"Well I suggest you round up your group of rag tag misfits, sit down in a circle and sing Kumbaya," Sue says, "my Cheerios don't have any weaknesses like emotions, so they won't need any comforting, but my guess is when your kids find out what's happened someone is sure to punch a wall or have an overly dramatic emotional outburst of some kind. If you dose them with some purple Kool Aid first, things might turn out better."

Will decides to ignore the insults that are part of Sue's speech because she has a point; his kids are not going to take this very well. "Emma if I get the Glee kids to the choir room, will you help me talk to them?"

"Of course Will."

"Well then it's settled, you two deal with the over emotional singers and I will go make sure that Principal Figgins hasn't forgotten how to do his job," Sue states and doesn't wait around for their conformation of this plan.

As he watches her walk away, Will almost chuckles because, even though she has tried to hide her true motives with insults, it seems pretty clear what she is up to. She cares about his kids too, wants to make sure they're okay, but she has more important things to deal with. Brittany is still with Figgins, Sue isn't checking up on the Principal, she's checking up on her blonde haired Cheerio. Will's not sure, but he thinks that maybe she feels as guilty as he does and that thought leads him to another, maybe, just maybe, Sue has a heart after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This is a story I wrote in response to a prompt at the Glee Angst Meme over at livejournal awhile back. There were certain parts of the story that I wasn't exactly one hundred percent happy with, so I thought I would fix those up and repost the story here. That being said, I'm going to post as I edit my way through it but it shouldn't take very long for the whole thing to be up. Also, as an aside, I kind of feel bad about Coach Beiste being the "villain" in this story because I sort of think she is awesome but I guess that's why they call it fiction.**

_**Chapter 3**_

Will and Emma manage to find Finn and Rachel first, they're holding hands and sipping slushies and they look so happy that Will almost turns around and walks the other way. Replacing smiles with frowns is not what he signed up for when he became a teacher but rumours are sure to be abound by tomorrow and Brittany's going to need the support of her make shift Glee family.

"Guys have you seen any of the other Glee club members?" he asks.

"Uh no," Finn says, looking around like he expects them to pop up out of nowhere.

"Alright well, were having a Glee club meeting in the choir room as soon as I can find everyone," Will explains.

"But Mr. Schue, class is about to start in five minutes and, though my primary goal in life is to be a Broadway Star, maintaining my perfect 4.0 GPA is also important to my goal to be an all around successful person" Rachel tell him, "missing class is not a way to successfully accomplish this goal."

"Rachel, I think you can miss class this one time," Will tells her, "Principal Figgins has agreed to let me pull Glee club from class this afternoon," he adds, technically this is not true, but Figgins has much bigger things to worry about today than absenteeism.

"I guess." She concedes, "well, I'll just text everyone and tell them to come to the choir room then."

"Rachel made everyone give her their cell numbers in case of a Glee emergency," Finn explains, chuckling a bit at the memory of Santana's reaction to the idea of giving Rachel her number. Come to think of it, he still isn't really sure what a Glee emergency is.

"That's great," Will says and he actually means it because the idea of not having to track everyone down does feel pretty good. "Why don't you guys head to the choir room and I'll meet you there in a bit."

He waits for them to retreat before he turns to Emma, "what am I going to say to them?" he sighs.

"You're going to tell them what happened and then you're going to answer their questions, listen to what they have to say, and be supportive," Emma tells him putting her hand on his shoulder, "Will, this isn't going to be easy for anyone, but you don't have to make everything right today. Healing is going to be a process for Brittany, for the other kids, and for you too Will."

He tries to say something but she interrupts him, "no don't try and say anything, I saw the look on your face in Principal Figgins office, you feel guilty, I can tell, but Will listen to me, this isn't your fault." She can tell that he doesn't really believe her and she wishes she could make this better, but she can't.

"I just," Will's shoulders slump, "didn't you hear what she said, 'ruining someone's life is bad right', I told her that the first time we were in Figgins office, when Sue was trying to get Beiste fired…"

Emma's heart breaks as she watches him struggle to explain, "Will listen to what you just said, Sue was trying to get Coach Beiste fired, she didn't know that the story she made up was the truth so how were you supposed to know?"

Emma can tell by the look on Will's face that he isn't going to stop feeling guilty anytime soon so she gives up for now, "Look Will, why don't you go splash some water on your face and give yourself a moment to pull yourself together before you head to the choir room," before he can argue she continues, "I want to go check on Brittany anyway, so I can meet you there in fifteen minutes or so."

It will probably take at least that long for the kids to make it to the choir room anyway he thinks and he really could use a moment to calm down. Everything seems to be happening so fast, he can't really believe that fifteen minutes ago he had been beating a person up. Yes, he decides, it would probably be a good idea to give himself a few minutes before facing the kids, "alright," he tells Emma and they head off with the promise of meeting up soon.

xxxxxx

Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, and Mike are on their way out of the choir room when they get the text from Rachel.

"Do you think this is about Brittany?" Mike asks them.

Tine shrugs, Kurt seems to contemplate the questions, and Mercedes says, "Probably".

Kurt has to agree with Mercedes, "It would make sense. I mean, when has Mr. Schue ever taken us out of class before, he is all about the importance of education." Seeing the look on Tina's face he adds, "but maybe he just wants to dispel the rumour, if it's not true those are some pretty serious accusations."

They don't get to discuss it much more because Rachel and Finn are coming into the room.

"Hey guys," Finn greets them, "you made it here like super fast."

"We were already here Finn," Kurt explains.

"Oh," Finn nods realizing this makes much more sense, "so isn't it totally cool that Mr. Schue got us out of class this afternoon. I think I was supposed to have a history test so I am super glad."

"Um, I guess it's cool," Tina says, though the tone of her voice suggests that she doesn't really think so, "so you don't know what this is about do you?" She asks.

"Mr. Schue was totaling not sparing any details" Rachel says.

"Mr. Schue didn't tell us anything," Finn tells them.

"That's what I just said," Rachel glares at him.

"Oh is that what sparing means?" Finn asks her, at which she rolls her eyes but hugs him.

"So you haven't heard the rumour then," Mercedes asks, assuming if they're totally cool with not going to class and not the least bit concerned, then they must not have heard. She's confused by the look that Kurt gives her, but when she hears a, "what rumour?" from behind her and she whips around to see Santana and Puck standing in the doorway she realizes what the look is about. Rachel and Finn might not lose their cool until they know for sure whether or not the rumour is true but that isn't likely to be true about Santana or Puck.

Santana has a scowl on her face as she asks, "What is going on?"

Mercedes just stares at her not sure if she should say anything. She is glad when Kurt pipes up with a question.

"Where is Brittany?" he asks. Kurt figures this is a good diversion tactic plus he actually wants to know because knowing where Brittany is may help to either confirm or disprove the rumour.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since Cheerios practice this morning, we don't have class together and I went with Puck to the Seven Eleven at lunch," seeing the look that everyone is giving her she rolls her eyes. Honestly, she thinks to herself, it's like they think were attached at the hip, which okay, they usually were, but they didn't do everything together. "She isn't answering her phone, she probably lost it again," she adds since everyone seems to still expect her to know where Britt is, "now would someone explain what is going on."

Kurt is relieved when Artie rolls through the door preventing anyone from having to explain. Like Rachel and Finn, it seems like Santana and Puck haven't heard about Jacob's latest blog post and Kurt's pretty sure he doesn't want to be the one delivering the news, he can't be sure that Santana won't kill the messenger.

"Guy's I just saw Coach Beiste and her face is all messed up." Artie tells them.

"What?" Finn asks confused, "you mean someone like beat her up?"

"It sure seemed like it," Artie explains, "I tried to say something to her but she ignored me. Maybe she's embarrassed?"

Kurt feels a pang in his stomach at the news. The fact that someone beat up Coach Beiste may not be definitive proof that the rumour is true but it is seeming more and more likely that it is true. His thoughts are interrupted by Rachel's response to Artie's story, "Who would do something like that?" Kurt can't help but look over at Santana at that thought, maybe she did know?

Santana is confused why Kurt, Mercedes, Mike, and Tina are looking at her like she knows what is going on. It takes her a moment but finally she realizes that the looks on their faces are almost accusatory, "what are you looking at? Do you think I am dumb enough to beat up a teacher? Sure Coach Sylvester wants her gone, but I'm pretty sure it won't help me get back my head Cheerio title because you can't be a Cheerio period if you're expelled."

Tina is the one who finally caves under Santana's fiery gaze and explains what is going on, "no, it's just Jacob Ben Israel said that Coach Beiste has been…um…touching Brittany, and we thought that maybe you…you know…" she trails off.

"What?" comes a response from Finn, Rachel, Artie, and Puck but Santana's not saying anything, it's like she's frozen.

Santana's mind is racing, someone has been hurting Brittany? Sure she has been somewhat self involved since the whole boob job/fall from head Cheerio fiasco but this is Brittany and if it were true she would have told her. It's with this thought that she finally manages to gain control of her body, her response comes out as a growl, "no way, I am going to kill that lying son of bitch!" and with that she storms towards the doorway and Puck moves to follow her because if there's going to be fighting then he is going to be there.

Santana's rampage is halted by Mr. Schue coming through the door. He's shocked at the look of rage on her face, "Where are you going Santana?"

"To kill Jew Fro, if that jerk thinks he can just make stuff up about Brittany and get away with it then he has another thing coming," she practically yells at him.

Will is confused, she can't possible be talking about Coach Beiste, how on earth could Jacob already know that, so he asks, "what is Jacob saying about Brittany?"

If Santana were thinking clearly she would be suspicious that Mr. Schue doesn't reprimand her for calling Jacob Jew Fro, but she isn't thinking clearing so she just answers, "he's saying that Coach Beiste has been touching her, which is completely ridiculous."

Will sighs, still really confused about how Jacob could have already found this out and had time to spread it around, but his head hurts too much to contemplate it, "Santana, why don't you sit down," he tells her softly.

"I'm not sitting down," she glares at him.

Will's pretty sure if he moves out of the doorway she'll be gone before he has a chance to explain plus saying it quickly, like ripping a band aid off, might be better, so he goes for it "he didn't make it up."

There's a collective gasp from the rest of the Glee club but Will can't focus on them because the fury that fills Santana's already enraged express is terrifying him.

"It's not true!" she's yelling now, "move," she commands, "I need to find Brittany. It's not true! She'll tell you it's not true."

Will does move out of the doorway, but it's to let Emma into the room. Quinn is with her and she is to one who speaks, "Santana, I was just with Brittany, it is true."

Santana looks at her for moment, the girl who she has spent the last few months actively hating is looking at her with nothing but concern, and just like that all the fight leaves her. She stumbles backwards and manages to find a chair to slump down into and for the second time today Will's heart breaks.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This is a story I wrote in response to a prompt at the Glee Angst Meme over at livejournal awhile back. There were certain parts of the story that I wasn't exactly one hundred percent happy with, so I thought I would fix those up and repost the story here. That being said, I'm going to post as I edit my way through it but it shouldn't take very long for the whole thing to be up. Also, as an aside, I kind of feel bad about Coach Beiste being the "villain" in this story because I sort of think she is awesome but I guess that's why they call it fiction.**

_**Chapter 4**_

No one says anything for awhile but the silence isn't exactly uncomfortable. It is clear that everyone is taking time to come to grips with the revelation. Will isn't shocked that it's Rachel who is the first to speak up. He is a little surprised that she doesn't burst into a long speech but instead just asks one question, "I am assuming that Coach Beiste is being arrested?"

Will looks over at Emma, he doesn't really know what is going on in terms of the police but maybe she does.

"Well these matters are very complicated, but yes the police are involved." Emma explains.

"What's so complicated," Finn asks not sure if he's the only one who doesn't get it, "she hurt Brittany, she goes to jail right?"

"Well, unless she admits what she has done to the police, which isn't likely, that might not necessarily happen, and even if she is arrested it could take a long time before the case goes to trial," Emma tries to explain gently how the legal system might fail them, "but I can assure you that Coach Beiste won't be working here ever again and that this incident will make it very hard for her to get a job anywhere else."

"This is bullshit," Kurt exclaims and the rest of the club is agreeing with him, "we're supposed to be satisfied with the fact that she's going to lose her job? As if that is even close to the kind of punishment she deserves"

"Well at least someone beat her up," Artie adds trying to find some bright side in this whole mess.

"About that," Will grimaces. He would rather his kids not know about his violent outburst but he wouldn't be shocked if it had already made it onto Jacob's blog, that kid seemed to know everything, and it would be better if they heard it from him. "After I found out about what has been happening between Coach Beiste and Brittany, I had a moment that I am not very proud of, and I was the one who hit Coach Beiste." He waits for their reaction and he is not disappointed by it.

"You're a hypocrite Mr. Schue," Puck tells him, "you wouldn't let Santana go beat up that Jacob kid but it's alright for you to beat up people who hurt Brittany?"

"Santana wanted to beat Jacob up because he was making stuff up about Brittany," Will reminds Puck, "Jacob didn't actually make anything up."

"So you would want the whole school to know if someone did that to you?" Quinn asks him. This is the first she's heard of Jacob telling everyone and she's pretty sure she's going to kill that boy herself. The last thing Brittany needs is the whole school whispering about her, Quinn knows how that feels.

"Of course not," Will says, getting defensive, "I just…" he's glad when Emma jumps in to save him.

"How about we don't focus on the fighting right now," she tells them, "you must have some questions you want answered."

The room falls silent again and this time it is a little uncomfortable. It's not that no one has any questions it's just that no one knows exactly how or what they should ask. Emma isn't so surprised that the first question comes from Santana but she is surprised that there is no hostility in the girl's voice.

There are so many things Santana wants to ask. What she really wants to know is what exactly that bitch has been doing to Brittany but what comes out instead is, "where is Brittany right now?" This is a much safer question, and asking it instead of the other makes her feel like a coward, but she's not a hundred percent sure she can hear exactly what happened to Brittany without falling apart. Falling apart wouldn't do much for her reputation, at least that's the excuse she uses to convince herself not to ask.

Emma is glad that the questions have started off easy, "she's in Coach Sylvester's office, it's a little more private then the wall of glass that is Principal Figgins' office. Her parents and the police are with her" she explains.

"When can I see her?" Santana asks and Emma notes her use of the word I and not we.

"Well, she might be awhile with the police and then her parents will probably take her home but, if it's alright with her parents and she is up to visitors, I'm sure you could see her at her house."

Santana shrugs at this, it doesn't feel like nearly soon enough and she has to resist the urge to march out the door and down to Coach Sylvester's office right now.

The silence has filled the room again. Kurt's the one who is finally brave enough to ask the question, or one of the questions, that they all want the answer to, "how long has this been going on?"

Will and Emma look at each other silently deciding who is going to answer but it turns out neither of them have to because Quinn speaks up, "since school started" and then there's silence again.

"That's it I'm out of here," Puck says getting up and heading for the door, "I don't do this touchy feely shit."

"Puck wait," Will tells him, "look, I know that this is uncomfortable but please stay. Don't you want to help Brittany out?"

"And talking is supposed to help her how?" Pucks ask.

"You won't be any help to her if you don't have your emotions under control," Emma steps in for Will again and he is so very grateful, "she's going to need everyone to be strong for her, you can't do that if you're falling apart Noah. Talking helps."

Pucks reaction startles everyone. Tina visibly jumps as Puck kicks over a chair, "she's not going to want my help anyway," he takes a breath and turns so that he is facing all of them, "I'm pretty sure I talked her out of telling anyone a while ago, she probably hates me, or at least she should." He doesn't say it, but it's pretty clear that even if Brittany doesn't hate him, he hates himself right now.

"Puck calm down and explain," Will tells him, "she didn't actually tell you that Coach Beiste touched her did she?" He's not sure what Puck's about to say, but he sympathizes strongly with him, Will still can't get Brittany's 'ruining someone's life is bad right?' out of his head.

"More than a month ago I was going on about how great a coach Beiste is and how we might actually win this year," he explains, "Brittany was there and she asked if we could win without Coach Beiste, I told her definitely not," he pauses, "she wanted to know if winning was important to me and like an idiot I said yes. She probably would have said something if she didn't think she would be destroying my dreams or some shit by getting that bitch fired."

"Puck," Will walks closer to him, "you couldn't have possibly known what was going on. This is not your fault."

Puck shrugs at this because it doesn't matter whether he could have known or not, the idea that he may have convinced her to keep quiet is killing him. He is snapped out of his thoughts by Kurt speaking up.

"At least she didn't ask you for help and you didn't give it to her," he tells Puck. Kurt can't believe how much of an idiot he is. When Brittany had approached him a few weeks ago he had just chalked it up to her being Brittany but he should have known better. The conversation had been odd even by Brittany standards.

"She wanted me to be her boyfriend, I reminded her that I was gay with a capital G," he pauses remembering the look on her face and her needing him to clarify that he meant no, "I didn't even ask her what was going on. I mean it's so clear now that something was obviously wrong and I just ignored her."

"Kurt, don't beat yourself up," Quinn tells him, "I ignored much more obvious signs than that," Quinn stops for a moment to think about the last several Cheerio's weigh-ins, "Brittany hasn't really been eating much lately. It didn't even cross my mind to ask her if something was wrong, I just assumed that she was trying to impress Coach Sylvestor."

Quinn isn't the only one thinking of these much more obvious signs. The more they think about it, the more that each and every one of them realizes that they have had some sort of communication with Brittany recently that can now be interpreted completely differently.

"She told me she thought there was a spider living in her shirt," Rachel adds and Finn is nodding also remembering that conversation, "I told her that that was highly unlikely but it is clear now that I was mistaken in rejecting her hypothesis without asking further questions. She was clearly referring to the creepy crawly feeling you get when you are anxious or uncomfortable, which she obviously had reason to be."

Emma decides it is time to stop this recounting of memories, "I know that you are all feeling like you should have figured out what was going on but that is not a realistic perspective," she explains to them, "I can't tell you what Brittany was thinking when you had those conversations with her but I can tell you that Brittany didn't want to tell anyone what was going on. She may have been subconsciously letting small clues slip out but from talking with her I can tell that she was set on keeping this a secret. We wouldn't even know what was going on if Quinn hadn't witnessed it."

"Wait," Artie says looking over at Quinn, "you actually saw…" he trails off.

Quinn can only nod and pray that they don't make her tell the story again. It seems like something is finally going her way today because Mercedes diverts the conversation away from her involvement, "I don't understand why Brittany wouldn't say anything."

"Well Mercedes," Emma starts, "that's a very good question and one that is difficult for me to answer because that's something that Brittany herself probably doesn't really know."

Santana's brow furrows, it seems like Ms. Pillsbury is leaving something out. She had assumed that that bitch had threatened Brittany. It's not that big of a stretch to think that someone who inappropriately touches a student would also have no problem threatening that student, but that would make the reason why Brittany didn't say anything pretty straight forward. With that thought in mind Santana asks, "Did that bitch threaten her?"

"No," Emma says, "at least I am pretty sure not and I know that you're all upset but I would appreciate it if we could tone down the vulgarity a bit."

Santana rolls her eyes at this, as far as she's concerned bitch was toned down.

"Or not," Emma adds seeing the look from Santana, "this is very hard to explain but sometimes there doesn't need to be an actual threat for a person to feel threatened. Like I explained before, I can't say exactly why Brittany didn't say anything, but in cases like this the victim often feels too ashamed to say anything."

The room falls quiet again and Will isn't sure if it was Emma's use of the word victim or the idea of the happiest, most outgoing and care free person they know feeling ashamed of herself that has caused the silence. Either way, the revelation of this newest information only confirms for Will that Emma was right when she told him that healing was going to be a process.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This is a story I wrote in response to a prompt at the Glee Angst Meme over at livejournal awhile back. There were certain parts of the story that I wasn't exactly one hundred percent happy with, so I thought I would fix those up and repost the story here. That being said, I'm going to post as I edit my way through it but it shouldn't take very long for the whole thing to be up. Also, as an aside, I kind of feel bad about Coach Beiste being the "villain" in this story because I sort of think she is awesome but I guess that's why they call it fiction.**

_**Chapter 5**_

An hour later they are discussing what they may or may not be able to do for Brittany when, to everyone's surprise, Brittany comes through the door. Rachel quits talking mid-sentence and the room falls silent for the millionth time today.

Brittany's the one who finally breaks the silence, "Mr. Schue, who died?"

Will has to look at her facial expression very carefully to make sure she isn't kidding, but he isn't exactly surprised when her face only reveals confusion and perhaps curiosity. This is Brittany he reminds himself and he's pretty sure she doesn't know how to kid. He doesn't know how to explain to her that she is the one who has caused the awkward silence so instead he just answers her question, "no one died Brittany".

"Oh that's good," she smiles at him and she honestly looks relieved.

He's saved from having to answer any more of her questions by a whir of motion and Santana slamming into the blonde. Santana has Brittany in such a fierce hug that Will's worried that she might be hurting her but Brittany's grin only broadens and she says, "Hi S."

At the sound of the other girl's voice Santana's grip slackens a bit and she looks back at the other Glee club members. Will wonders if maybe she's worried about what her reaction will do her reputation but she doesn't let go of Brittany and instead smiles at her friend, "Hi B."

Without letting go, Santana pulls Brittany backwards towards the group, who have managed to rearrange themselves without Will noticing so that there are now two empty chairs directly in the middle of the group. Santana sits Brittany down in one of the chairs and takes the seat beside her and Will notices that she now has the other girls hand tightly clutched in her own.

"San, guess what?" Brittany asks her excitedly.

"I don't know what?"

"No you have to guess," Brittany smiles, "it's like a rule".

Santana can't help but smile back at Brittany, "um you got a hair cut?"

"I did?"

"No that was my guess," Santana responds patiently.

"Oh right," Brittany nods, "Coach Sylvester let me sit in the chair behind her desk. Did you know that she keeps markers and stickers in there? She let me use them too."

Santana is not the only one a little surprised by this revelation and it is Artie who asks the question on everyone's mind, "Why does Coach Sylvester have markers and stickers?"

"For her journal," Brittany tells him like it's the most obvious answer in the world but then her eyes get wide, "I don't think I was supposed to say that," she seems to contemplate this before adding "or maybe I wasn't supposed to say anything at all about the stickers".

Santana almost rolls her eyes at Brittany's response because it is just so…Brittany and this thought almost brings tears to her eyes because her best friend is sitting beside and talking like everything is completely normal. Santana stops her train of thought there, god, she thinks, pull yourself together, you're turning into Quinn.

Luckily Kurt has picked up the conversation and no one is paying attention to her reaction, "I thought your parents were going to take you home Britt?"

"Oh," Brittany says, "they wanted to, my mom was totally crying, but Tuesday we have Glee practice," she looks at him confused for a second, "it is Tuesday right?"

Everyone chuckles at this. It's kind of ironic Will thinks, here they are planning ways to make her feel better and she's the one making them smile.

The chuckling dies down and Brittany is now staring at Kurt expectantly. It takes him a moment to realize that she is still waiting for a response, "it is in fact Tuesday," he confirms for her.

"I thought so," she responds.

Brittany's now looking around the group with a slightly puzzled expression, as if she's trying to figure something out but she can't quite grasp what it is. The bell ringing startles her and she nearly jumps out of her seat. Santana can feel the blondes' hand quiver within her own and she wonders what has scared her. Brittany typically doesn't startle so easily and Santana wonders if the jumpiness is a result of the stress of today or if perhaps the blonde has been jumpy for sometime now and it's just something else she has failed to notice. She almost kicks herself when it is Quinn who whispers reassuringly that everything is okay. This is her best friend and she should be the one doing the reassuring.

The head cheerleader, who is sitting on Brittany's other side has taken Brittany's other hand in her own, "It's just the bell B, school's over for the day," she tells her.

At this statement, Will looks over at the door. He had completely forgotten that school was still in session. The hallways are about to fill up with students and the door is wide open, he moves to shut it but someone beats him to it. He is surprised that the hand closing the door comes from the hallway and not from inside the choir room. The arm closing the door looks suspiciously track suit clad and he feels the need to find out for sure so he tells the kids he will be back in a minute and he steps out. Sure enough Sue Sylvester is leaning against the wall opposite the choir room, "Sue what are you doing out here?" his question isn't accusing, just curious.

He's not sure what he expects her answer to be, but he is surprised that she doesn't beat around the bush, "I told Brittany's parents I would make sure she got home safely."

"You don't have to wait out here, I can bring her to your office when we're done," he tells her.

"All of those chemicals you use on your hair must have finally gotten to your brain Will," Sue responds, "how exactly am I supposed to make sure that my Cheerio is safe if I can't even see her? And before you ask, no, the cameras I have set up around the school will not suffice for this task, they obviously do not catch everything, something that I can assure you I am rectifying."

"Sue she will be with me the whole time, she's safe," he says but this statement almost feels like a lie to him, he hasn't been doing a very good job of keeping her safe lately. At this thought he looks carefully at Sue and for once he thinks he can understand where she is coming from, he isn't the only one who has failed to keep Brittany safe. So be it if Sue wants to stand outside his choir room to keep on eye on the blonde, she has every right to be overprotective.

"Never mind," he tells her heading back to the choir room but something stops him. He looks over his shoulder and adds, "You can come in if you want you know."

"I don't think so," she tells him, "I find the outpouring of emotions revolting. It may make me physically ill."

He just shrugs at this and heads back into the choir room. The uneasy silence has fallen back on the room and he is curious what has caused it this time. "What did I miss?" he whispers to Emma and she quietly explains that Brittany has asked why the other kids weren't in class if school just ended. Any other day he may pause to think how oddly perceptive that was for her, but today isn't any other day.

Santana is not sure why all of the Glee club members are now staring at her. Why does she have to be the one to explain to Brittany that they aren't in class because they were too busy discussing what happened to her to care much about algebra? Santana has never once wished before that Brittany was anything other than Brittany but, in this moment, Santana finds herself wishing that Brittany didn't take everything so literally. There would be no way to side step this, she would have to say exactly what was going on or Brittany wouldn't get it. So with that thought, and a reminder to herself that she is the one who has to say it because Brittany is her best friend, Santana squeezes her hand gently and explains, "We were talking about how Coach Beiste has been touching you in places that she shouldn't." It physically hurts Santana to actually use Beiste's name but she knows Brittany won't know who 'that bitch' is.

Brittany is now just staring at Santana and Santana wishes she could read her mind. Finally the blonde speaks, "you mean my boobs?"

Santana knows she should have been specific instead of using 'places that she shouldn't' but she couldn't because she hadn't had the courage to ask exactly where that bitch had touched Brittany. Santana hopes that Brittany's response means that that bitch has only been touching her breasts and then feels bad for thinking that. How exactly is it right for her to even be remotely celebrating the fact that someone has been 'only' touching her best friend's breasts?

"Yes, that's what she means" Quinn answers for Santana who is clearly too caught up in her own thoughts to notice that Brittany is still waiting for answer.

Quinn's voice snaps Santana out of her funk and she is now focusing intently on Brittany. She isn't the only one. Everyone seems to be holding their breath waiting for Brittany's reaction. The blonde doesn't say much just, "oh," before she looks down at the floor, suddenly finding her feet very fascinating.

Kurt is the first one to speak, he's not sure exactly what he should say but he knows he needs to say something, he has never seen the blonde look so miserable before in his entire life. "Brittany, I just want you to know that I am sorry that this happened to you and that anything you need I'm here okay, we're all here."

Brittany looks up from the floor and over at him, "It's okay," she tells him and no one is really sure what she is calling okay. What happened to her? How exactly can that be okay? Or was she just explaining that she didn't need anything. Either way, Puck thinks this is ridiculous and so he tells her, "This is not okay".

Brittany is now looking at him but she doesn't say anything, just shrugs her shoulders. She's quiet for a long time but finally she turns to Mr. Schuester and softly asks, "Can we not sing about it?"

She uses the word sing but he has the distinct impression that she means talk. He can't really blame her for not wanting to talk about it even if he thinks that they should. He certainly cannot make her talk about it if she doesn't want to and this is technically Glee club's practice time so he asks her what she would like to sing.

She smiles at him but doesn't say anything for a bit. Finally she tells him, "rainbows, like that one time when you had that weird guitar made for a baby" she smiles a bit more and adds, "oh and sunshine, like that time we had yellow dresses." It seems pretty clear that what she is really asking is to feel the way she did in those moments, happy.

The other kids don't seem so keen on singing about rainbows or sunshine but he can't deny her this and he's pretty sure that they won't be able to either. "Alright then that's what we'll sing about" he tells them and they spend the rest of the designated Glee rehearsal time doing just that. Though he can't help but note that none of them, not even Brittany, are performing with even close to their usual enthusiasm.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: This is a story I wrote in response to a prompt at the Glee Angst Meme over at livejournal awhile back. There were certain parts of the story that I wasn't exactly one hundred percent happy with, so I thought I would fix those up and repost the story here. That being said, I'm going to post as I edit my way through it but it shouldn't take very long for the whole thing to be up. Also, as an aside, I kind of feel bad about Coach Beiste being the "villain" in this story because I sort of think she is awesome but I guess that's why they call it fiction.**

_**Chapter 6**_

When the clock approaches the time that Glee rehearsal usually ends Sue enters the room. Everyone but Will and Brittany seem shocked to see her. Will doesn't say anything just smiles a bit and Brittany waves at her.

"Ready to go B?" Sue ignores everyone else and focuses on Brittany, "Your parents will be expecting you home soon. We don't want to keep them waiting."

No one is quite sure what to make of Sue being in charge of bringing Brittany home and they look to Brittany to see how she will respond. Brittany just nods and starts to head towards her coach before she stops and turns to Santana, "you're coming right?" she asks the other girl.

Santana reacts immediately and there is no hesitation in her voice, "of course I'm coming." She doesn't even care that she will be have to leave her car in the parking lot or that she is supposed to be going to some family dinner tonight, she just links pinkies with Brittany and follows Coach Sylvester out of the room, leaving the rest of the Glee club behind.

xxxxxx

They don't say much in the car on the way to Brittany's house but, unlike much of the silence today, this silence is comfortable. Any other time Santana might find it odd that they are both sitting in the back seat, sort of like they are in a taxi, but right now that is the furthest thing from her mind. She still has her pinkie linked with Brittany's and Brittany has her head resting on her shoulder. In this moment everything feels like it is going to be perfectly fine and, as dumb as it sounds, Santana doesn't want the car ride to end. Of course besides sounding dumb this notion is impossible considering how close Brittany lives to the school or the fact that it doesn't take very long to get anywhere in Lima. Sure enough, it isn't long before they are pulling into Brittany's driveway.

Santana is surprised when Coach Sylvester gets out of the car and walks them to the door, how old does Coach Sylvester think they are exactly Santana wonders. It is also completely unnecessary because both of Brittany's parents are standing in the doorway before they've even made it half way up the driveway. Santana can't help but notice how anxious they look; Brittany's moms eyes are red rimmed and her father keeps crossing and uncrossing his arms like he doesn't know what to do with himself. They've barely made it to the door before Brittany's mom is embracing her daughter tightly like she hasn't seen her in days, instead of hours. This hug is particularly awkward considering the fact that Brittany won't let go of Santana's pinkie so her arm is twisted oddly behind her.

"Why don't you girls go on in," Brittany's dad tells them reaching over to pat his daughter's arm gently, "supper will be ready soon. It's a surprise I'm sure your going to love pumpkin."

Santana realizes this is code for 'we need to have grown up talk', which makes her huff and wonder again how old they think she is. But Brittany seems oblivious to this and she is pulling Santana into the house, "I don't know why my dad thinks I'm a pumpkin, he gets confused about that a lot though."

Santana doesn't know how to respond to this, trust Brittany to take terms of endearment literally, so she just smiles and says, "Weird."

"I know," Brittany is agreeing. She has led Santana to the living room and is turning the TV onto MTV. The two girls sit down on the couch and Santana can't help but feel like this could just be any other afternoon. How many times has she been on this couch, in this house before? Too many to count she decides. Of course this isn't any other afternoon, a fact that she is reminded of a half an hour later when Brittany's parents call them for supper and she finds out what they are eating.

"I made macaroni and cheese," Brittany's mom smiles at her daughter hugging her again, this time much less awkwardly because Brittany has finally given up her death grip on Santana's pinkie, "and not from scratch, the kind in a box with the animal shaped noodles that you always want me to get when we're at the grocery store."

Santana is shocked by this revelation. She has eaten here plenty of times and not once has Brittany's mom ever made anything that comes out of a box or that is not a completely balanced meal. Santana knows that Kraft Dinner definitely doesn't count as a balanced meal and so she looks around suspiciously trying to find the vegetable that they will surely have to eat. Instead of a vegetable all she sees is a plate of cupcakes on the counter and what remains of her 'this could be any other afternoon' bubble is burst.

Even though Brittany seems genuinely excited to be having Kraft Dinner for supper, Santana can't help but notice that she hasn't eaten much of her meal. Actually, the only person at the table who has managed to eat much at all is Brittany's little sister, who is on her second bowl. Santana looks down at her own mostly untouched meal and tries to convince herself that the only reason she isn't eating is because Coach Sylvester might kill her if she knew she was consuming a meal with so many calories.

Brittany quits pushing her food around, puts down her fork and asks her parents if Santana can sleep over. Santana smiles at this because every time she is over Brittany asks her parents this question as if she can't remember their 'no sleepovers on school nights' rule. Given that in the past Brittany's parents had not once caved on this rule, Santana is stunned when Brittany's dad says, "Would that be alright with your parents Santana?"

She is so stunned that it takes her a moment to react. Finally she finds her voice, "it shouldn't be a problem," and she doesn't really care if it is, if Brittany wants her here, then nothing is going to stop her from being here, "I'll call them" she adds.

"Awesome," Brittany grins and high fives Santana. Her grin is contagious and soon everyone else at the table is smiling back at her.

xxxxxx

The rest of the evening goes by spectacularly eventless and, besides the fact that she is now getting ready for bed at Brittany's house, Santana is back to feeling like this could be any other Tuesday. This feeling gives her hope that maybe everything really is going to be just fine and that maybe all of Ms. Pillsbury's talk about 'healing being a process' wouldn't apply to Brittany. After all, Brittany was kind of special.

Santana's thoughts are interrupted by Brittany coming back from the bathroom, "ready for bed?" she asks the blonde.

Brittany doesn't reply she just stands at the edge of her bed and shifts nervously from foot to foot. Santana is getting worried when her best friend starts chewing on her lip in addition to the nervous shifting, something is obviously up, "Brittany what's wrong."

Brittany stares at her blankly for a moment before she finally blurts out, "can you check under the bed?"

Now Santana is really confused, sure Brittany's random comments sometimes make her seem younger than her actual age, but Santana knows that things like the dark or closet monsters don't usually scare her, "For what?"

At this, Brittany just chews on her lip some more and shrugs.

Santana can't stand how nervous Brittany looks so she gives up trying to figure out what is going on and bends down to look under the bed. Righting herself she looks over at Brittany, "there is nothing under there, not even dust bunnies. Your mom is way too obsessed with vacuuming."

Brittany nods but the relief that Santana is expecting her to show doesn't come, instead she continues to shift from foot to foot. She does stop chewing her lip to ask a question, "Can you check again?"

At this, Santana's level of confusion sky rockets, "Brittany, I just checked."

Brittany seems to consider this, "please" her response is barely a whisper and the fear etching her face terrifies Santana. She has no idea what is going on and she considers getting Brittany's parents but instead she bends down and checks under the bed again. This time when she gets up she walks closer to Brittany and takes her hands in her own, "There is nothing under your bed, I promise, okay?"

It takes a minute, but the fear in Brittany's face slowly disappears, "okay. Can we go to sleep now?"

"Yes." Santana tells her and she shuts off the light and she gets into bed. In the dark she holds her best friend close and listens as her breathing slows down and evens out, a sure sign that she has fallen asleep. Santana can't manage to fall asleep though, she can't get the fear in Brittany's face out of her mind. She doesn't know exactly what Brittany thought might be under the bed but she knows that this reaction is not remotely close to normal. Santana can't seem to figure out how what happened to Brittany had resulted in what transpired before bed but she also can't see how the two couldn't be related. She does know that any thought she had that Ms. Pillsbury might have been wrong about 'healing being a process' has completely left her brain, in its place all that is left is absolute terror. She decides that first thing tomorrow she needs to talk to someone, maybe Mr. Schue or Coach Sylvester, because it seems like Brittany may need more help than she knows how to give. Santana might have screwed up by not realizing what was going on with Brittany before but she wasn't going to screw up making things better for her best friend.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This is a story I wrote in response to a prompt at the Glee Angst Meme over at livejournal awhile back. There were certain parts of the story that I wasn't exactly one hundred percent happy with, so I thought I would fix those up and repost the story here. That being said, I'm going to post as I edit my way through it but it shouldn't take very long for the whole thing to be up. Also, as an aside, I kind of feel bad about Coach Beiste being the "villain" in this story because I sort of think she is awesome but I guess that's why they call it fiction.**

_**Chapter 7**_

Even though she doesn't really sleep, morning comes quickly enough for Santana and before she knows it she's standing in front of the school with Brittany. They're here earlier than they usually would be because Brittany is supposed to be meeting with Ms. Pillsbury before class. Santana has decided she is going to use this time to talk to Coach Sylvester, so, after delivering Brittany to Ms. Pillsbury's office and making her promise to wait there for her if she finishes early, Santana heads off to Coach Sylvester's office.

Sue is in the middle of a journal entry reflecting on her disappointment that Quinn brought Brittany to that weak minded ginger yesterday instead of to her when Santana knocks on the door. She puts aside the thought that maybe her Cheerios fear her a bit too much and calls the girl into her office.

"What's up S?" She asks and Santana can't help but note that this is the first time since the discovery of her boob job that Coach Sylvester has used anything close to her name.

"I wanted to talk to you about Brittany."

Sue nods her head and points to the chair in front of her desk, "well then quit skulking in the doorway and come sit down."

Once she's settled across from Coach Sylvester, Santana gets right to the point, "Brittany sort of freaked out before bed last night".

"You're going to have to be bit more specific," Sue responds.

"She made me check under the bed," Santana explains, "twice" she adds more quietly.

Sue eyes her for a moment before asking, "And I take it this isn't normal behaviour for her?"

Santana shakes her head. Brittany may do a lot of odd things on a fairly regular basis but she had never once needed to check under the bed before going to sleep, and Santana slept with her enough that she should know.

"Well," Sue says, "did you consider that maybe yesterday was a particularly rough day for her? I know that I usually go on about how much harder things could be but in this case I think things are plenty hard. The brain is a very complex thing, before I settled on a master's in counseling I almost became a brain surgeon so I should know. I can only speculate, though my speculations are usually pretty accurate. It could be that she was projecting her anxiety onto a situation that she could control the outcome of. After all, the odds of there actually being anything under her bed were pretty small."

Listening to Coach Sylvester talk, Santana knows she has made the right choice in selecting who to speak to. She still has questions though, "Why just yesterday? I mean if this has been going on for months, why wasn't she projecting her anxiety before, she must have been anxious when it was going on?"

"Yesterday she was probably more anxious about everyone knowing than anything else," Sue tries to provide an answer, "it was a busy day, talking to her parents, the police, Glee club. She's been holding this secret back for so long that it must be overwhelming when suddenly everyone she knows, knows it."

"I guess that makes sense," Santana nods.

"Of course it does, Sue Sylvester never says anything that doesn't make sense," Sue tells her, "now you should get going, I think that's enough talking."

Santana doesn't argue just gets up and heads towards the door. Coach Sylverstor's voice stops her before she can leave the room though.

"If Brittany needs anything today, you bring her here, got it?"

"Of course" Santana agrees before leaving.

Once the dark haired girl is out of site, Sue pulls out her journal again and starts writing. 'Perhaps my Cheerios do fear me just the right amount. Maybe I just need to rethink who I have as my head Cheerio.'

xxxxxx

Santana finds Brittany talking with the majority of the Glee club outside of Ms. Pillsbury's office. Brittany is holding something and as Santana gets closer she realizes that it's a plate of cookies. Rachel must have brought her 'famous' sugar cookies and Santana has to fight the urge to roll her eyes. "You all done?" She asks Brittany as she approaches.

"Done what?" Brittany asks, clearly confused.

"Talking with Ms. Pillsbury?"

"Oh," Brittany starts, "I didn't talk but Ms. Pillsbury did, a lot, it just made me sleepy, kind of like when I pray," she pauses a moment clearly contemplating something before finally asking, "is Ms. Pillsbury God?"

"What?" Rachel answers before Santana can say anything, "definitely not."

Brittany just shrugs and the warning bell rings before anything else can be said.

"We better head to class," Santana tells her, reaching over to link pinkies with her best friend and leading them off in the direction of Brittany's first class. Santana can't help but notice that everyone else follows, like they have their own entourage.

xxxxxx

Santana doesn't have any of her morning classes with Brittany and it seems like the morning will never end. She's caught herself more than once about to get out of her chair and head off to find Brittany. She's also had to stop herself from beating up more than one person and she's already yelled at more people than she can count on her hands. Honestly, it's bad enough that everyone is talking about Brittany, do they really have to do it so loudly. She only hopes that Brittany is managing to remain oblivious to all of the talk about her.

When the bell finally rings for lunch it feels like it's been weeks not hours since she parted ways with Brittany. She practically runs to Brittany's locker, which is beside her own, expecting to find the other girl there. When she doesn't, she starts to get concerned. She calms herself with the fact that Brittany frequently forgets where her locker is and she probably just went to the cafeteria. She convinces herself that the ridiculous speed at which her heart is beating is from running not from being concerned, something that she has a hard time rationalizing when it instantly slows at the sight of Brittany surrounded by some of the other Glee club members in the lunch room.

"Britt," she says as she approaches the table, "thanks a lot for waiting for me."

"Waiting for what?" Brittany asks.

"Never mind," Santana tells her sliding into the seat beside her. She's glad that everyone had the presence of mind to leave the spot open for her. She looks at the other kids at the table, Quinn, Artie, Tina, Kurt, Mercedes, and Rachel, appreciatively. Turning her attention away from them she focuses on Brittany, though there is no definitive proof, she looks a little worse for wear. She's picking at her lunch not really eating it and Santana notes that someone else must have gotten it for her because there is no way that Brittany would have chosen the items on her plate. Her thoughts are interrupted by Finn approaching the table.

"Hey Brittany," he smiles, "I got you a slushie," he says setting the cup down on the table before taking a seat beside Rachel.

She mostly looks confused but says thanks anyway. When Puck and Mike approach the table almost simultaneously from different directions moments later with slushie cups of their own and awkwardly give them to her she mumbles thanks again but this time it comes out sounding like a question and her hand slips under the table and grasps Santana's tightly.

No one really says much for awhile, they mostly watch Brittany pick at her food. Finally Quinn breaks the silence, "you should really eat more Brittany."

"You should," Rachel pipes up, "nutrition is important".

"I know the cafeteria food is grotesque but you should probably eat something," Kurt agrees, "Do you want some of my celery?"

"Forget all of that healthy stuff," Mercedes smiles at her, "I'd go for the slushies, sugar all the way."

"You can have some of my chips," Mike offers trying to be helpful.

Brittany doesn't respond to any of them she just stares blankly at the group but her grip on Santana's hand tightens and Santana notices that she's chewing on her lip like she was last night. When she starts looking around anxiously from side to side, Santana starts to get worried. Throughout lunch, Santana has been focused on Brittany but now she starts to look around and she realizes that pretty much the entire lunch room is staring at their table.

She's about to get up and tell everyone to mind their own damn business when she is interrupted by Brittany's voice, "Am I dying?"

Just like that her sole focus is back on Brittany, "no, why would you say that?"

"Rachel made cookies, everyone is staring and being really quiet and offering to do my homework, and…" she trails off not finishing her list, "it's like when Kurt's dad almost died, but my dad isn't dying, so I thought maybe I was."

Santana doesn't know how to respond and she doesn't get a chance to because a ruckus on the other side of the lunch room has her attention.

It turns out that Puck didn't stick around past 'everyone is staring'. Puck knows that he isn't good with talking but he is good with his fists and he's going to make damn sure that people quit staring, so that's how he finds himself beating up Jacob Ben Israel.

Santana really wants to join in, she could really use to get her anger out, but Brittany is shaking like a leaf beside her and she realizes she needs to get her out of here. Remembering her conversation from this morning she whispers to Brittany, "come on, Coach Sylvester needs to see you."

The two girls get up and Santana addresses the other Glee club members, "you better be in the choir room in fifteen minutes. Oh and make sure that he is there," she says waving in the direction of the fight. With that she walks Brittany out of the lunch room.

xxxxxx

Santana leaves Brittany behind in Coach Sylvester's office and marches towards the choir room. She's barely through the door when she commands the other Glee club members to, "sit down and listen." She has her game face on and she isn't messing around with pleasantries. She eyes them each carefully before she goes on, "the cookies, the offers to do her homework, and the concern about how much she is eating stop now. If you can't manage to act normal around her, then you don't get to be around her period. Your 'twilight zone esq' behaviour is freaking the shit out of her."

She knows that she is being a bit harsh with them, after all they mean well and they aren't the only ones acting differently, the macaroni and cheese and being allowed to sleep over come to mind, but if she needs to be harsh to help Brittany than she will be harsh. So with that in mind she crosses her arms and waits for their reaction.

"Why exactly are we not allowed to do any of those things and you can do all of them?" Quinn asks defensively.

Santana shakes her head at this, Quinn is completely missing the point, "First – I don't bake so I sure as hell haven't been making her cookies, Second – I always help Brittany with her homework, if I don't she turns it in done in crayon and then they start talking about sending her to a special school, Third – I haven't said one word about what she's been eating, if it keeps up than I'll worry about it then." Santana glares a bit at Quinn to reinforce her point.

Kurt's had enough of the glaring and he decides to step in, "You can stop glaring," he tells her then turns to Quinn, "What Santana is trying to say is that we're treating her completely differently then we normally do, which can't really feel that good." Sure Santana is being a little more abrasive than she needs to be but he understands what she is saying. Thinking back on his behaviour today, he knows that he probably went a little over the top with telling Brittany that if she still wanted she could be his girlfriend.

"That's what I said," Santana turns her glare on him but it's not quite as menacing as it was a moment ago and it isn't long before her facial expression softens, "look I know you all want to be there for her and you can be, just be a little more subtle. Treating her like she can't do anything for herself isn't going to help her, it's going to make her feel powerless."

"I thought she would like the slushie," Finn whispers and he honestly looks like a kicked puppy.

"She probably would've if she didn't get two more," Mike adds trying to make him feel better, "I can see how that might feel weird."

Puck takes a different stance, "I'm not apologizing for bringing her a slushie or beating up that Jacob kid."

"This isn't about the slushies and I didn't say anything about beating up Jew Fro, that kid deserved it," Santana says, "look, I didn't say that you had to ignore her or not do stuff for her, and it's probably actually a good idea if at least someone is with her all of the time until the gossiping dies down, just try not to treat her like she's falling apart."

Quinn is the one who speaks up and her voice is no longer defensive, it just sounds sad, "isn't she though?"

Her question is met with silence because there is no denying that Brittany isn't at least partially broken.

Santana and Quinn just stare at each other for what seems like forever to everyone in the room until finally, "I have to go" is what comes out of Santana's mouth. She tells them she promised Brittany she would be right back and she can't help but think that not even she is convinced by this excuse. She doesn't stick around though because thoughts of Brittany being broken are just too much for her to take.

No one says anything until Santana has been gone a good five minutes. Oddly, Puck is the one to speak, "I don't think Brittany is the only one a bit broken. Santana's way crazier than normal."

"Agreed," Quinn says and everyone else is nodding.

"Well what can we do to help?" Artie asks. He's not sure if he's the only one, but he has been feeling a lot more useless than usual and he would love to figure out how to do something to help.

"I think we should show our support through song," Rachel pipes up, "I can think of a number of songs that may be appropriate for the situation."

"No," everyone else says at the same time and Kurt elaborates, "Do you remember Brittany specifically asking to not sing about it yesterday? Or what Santana just said about not treating her differently? I know this is a concept that is hard for you to understand, but sometimes listening to other people when they talk is a good idea, especially when the person talking is the one you are trying to help. She wants the attention off of her, not on her. She's not ready to talk about it. When she's ready, and if she wants to, she'll sing about it, until then, rainbows and sunshine and songs without meaning are what we are giving her in Glee club."

"It's not like there isn't precedent for singing support for Glee club members" Rachel retorts slightly offended but seeing the looks that everyone is giving her she adds, "Okay than what do we do genius?"

"I was thinking of seeing if Brittany and Santana want to go shopping or something," Kurt tells her, "retail therapy always makes me feel better."

"Well I was thinking of going round two with Ben Isreal," Puck adds to the conversation before Rachel can say anything to Kurt.

He, along with everyone else in the room, is surprised when Rachel says, "that's not a bad idea."

"Wait. You want me to beat up Ben Isreal again?"

"Not exactly," Rachel explains, "I just think things would probably be easier for Brittany, and Santana, if the whole school wasn't gossiping so much."

"And you plan on stopping the gossiping by beating Jacob up?" Finn asks confused.

"No," Rachel shakes her head at him, "But making him quit blogging about it is a start. Plus we could maybe get him to post something more controversial to get the focus of the student body off of Brittany."

"It's actually not a bad idea," Mercedes says surprised, "but what exactly is more controversial than what's going on with Brittany?"

"Well we've already had teen pregnancy so that won't work," Tina says, "sorry Quinn."

"It's alright," Quinn says, "maybe we should make him post something really bad about himself. He kind of deserves it."

"Or we could just leave it up to him and threaten him with a smack down if it doesn't work," Artie adds. "Him thinking that an attack could be coming at any minute might actually be hilarious."

"Wait," Puck adds suspiciously, "does this mean I don't get to punch him again because I was really looking forward to that?"

Everyone laughs at this and it feels good to be smiling. Their plan might not be all that great and it probably won't actually stop the gossiping but they feel better knowing that they are at least trying to do something. As a bonus, this something isn't likely to 'freak the shit out of' Brittany as Santana would put it.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I just wanted to say thanks for the feedback so far. Also, sorry that I haven't posted more today. I've hit the part of the story that I wasn't really happy with before so this chapter is all new. I don't have to write too much more to link what I've written here up with the parts that I already have written so hopefully there will be a lot more posted tomorrow.**

_**Chapter 8**_

Santana takes her time walking back to Coach Sylvester's office. Her conversation with the other glee kids has bothered her more than she cares to admit and she knows that she needs to get her emotions in check before she sees Brittany; Brittany needs her to be strong, not an emotional wreck. Santana is so deep in thought that she doesn't notice Mr. Schuester walking in the opposite direction down the hallway and visibly jumps when he says hi.

"I'm sorry," he tells her, "I didn't mean to startle you. Is everything okay?" he asks concerned.

"It's fine," she reply's abruptly.

"Are you sure?" he asks skeptically, she certainly doesn't look fine.

"Of course I'm sure," she tells him crossing her arms and scowling, "everything is fan fricken tastic. I mean why wouldn't it be? It's not like I had absolutely no idea that someone has been abusing my best friend or anything like that. And it's certainly not like she's completely wigging out or something. Nope everything is peachy keen." She continues sarcastically and her eyes widen a bit when she realizes that she's said this out loud.

"Santana," Will says, his voice laced with concern, "why don't you come with me to my office, we can talk about this."

Her scowl returns quickly and she responds, "I don't need to talk about anything, what I need is to get back to Brittany."

"Where is Brittany?" Will asks a little worriedly but he quickly realizes that he has no reason to be worried when Santana explains that Brittany is with Coach Sylvester. He should have known that Santana wouldn't have just left Brittany alone.

"If she's with Sue than you don't need to worry, she'll be fine a little longer," Will tells the dark haired girl, "please come with me, we really should talk about how guilty you're feeling, that isn't healthy. You know this isn't your fault right?"

"Of course I know it isn't my fault. Just like you know it isn't your fault," she raises her eyebrow at him knowingly.

"I…" he starts not sure what to say. How does she know how guilty he feels?

"Don't look so surprised," she rolls her eyes at him, "I saw the way you were looking at her yesterday, it was the same way Puck was, it's the same way that everyone in glee club still is, don't be so hypocritical. I don't want to hear any speeches about how I shouldn't be feeling guilty from you. When she's better than maybe I won't feel guilty anymore, until then I have more important things to worry about."

With that she walks away from him and all he can do is watch speechless.

xxxxxx

Will knocks on the door to Emma's office. He's surprised at how frazzled she looks when he enters the room.

"Hey how are you?" He asks.

"I've had better days," she tells him, "Figgins roped me into being some kind of parent liaison and it seems like every parent with a child in this school has figured out what happened and feels the need to call in and rant about their child's safety and our school's teacher screening protocols. I know that they have every right to be concerned but it's so frustrating because I've spent the entire day on the phone instead of doing what I should be doing which is keeping an eye on Brittany and the kids close to her." She sighs before continuing, "Maybe I wouldn't be so frustrated if it weren't for the fact that the Pierce's didn't even come close to ranting like these other parents and it happened to their daughter."

"Well," Will tells her, "I think I know something that might help," he smiles reaching over and taking her phone off of the hook.

"But…" Emma starts reaching to put the phone back on the hook but Will holds up his hand to stop her.

"Just for fifteen minutes," he explains, "I actually wanted to talk to you about Brittany. Well actually about Santana but I think it has to do with Brittany."

"Okay" she concedes leaving the phone off of the hook.

Will sums up the conversation he has just had with Santana for her and ends with, "I'm just not sure what to do, it's clear that she is beating herself up and from the sounds of it Brittany isn't doing so well either."

"Well, I know you want to help Will but there is only so much you can do. Santana's asked that you leave her alone and for the time being that might be what's best. Obviously we'll need to keep an eye out for her but it's only been a day, we need to give it time." Emma tells him, "The same goes for Brittany. I don't think it's fair for us to expect her to be perfectly fine, so I'm not surprised that Santana's indicating that she's having problems. The thing is, Brittany's refusing to talk about it, she's only responding to direct questions and even then her response is just nodding or shaking her head. I can only do so much to help her is she won't tell me what she's feeling."

"I just want to make everything better." He says quietly.

"I know," Emma tells him, "I know."

xxxxxx

Santana has barely made it through the door when the bell rings signaling the end of lunch period.

Brittany looks up at her from where she is sitting crossed legged in one of the chairs opposite Coach Sylvester's desk. She seems worried and it becomes clear of what when she speaks up, "we don't have to go, do we?"

Santana looks up at Coach Sylvester for an answer. Normally in this situation she would just skip but it's kind of hard for your skipping to go unnoticed when you announce it in front of a staff member or, for that matter, when the entire staff is spending their time trying to look out for you.

Sue shakes her head no at the girl. Sure she knows that Brittany needs to be treated normally but going to a classroom where everyone is talking about you isn't exactly normal. From the time she's spent with Brittany while Santana was away it is clear that the girl has reached her limit for today.

Nodding in acknowledgment at Coach Sylvester, Santana responds to Brittany, "nope, I thought we could go to your house and watch a movie."

Brittany looks relived and she smiles brightly, "yay."

"I'll let the office know," Sue tells the girls. As they link pinkies and move to exit the room she adds, "You better not be late for practice tomorrow."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting, I had a harder time linking what I already had written to where I left the story in the last chapter than I thought I would. **

_**Chapter 9**_

As Santana pulls into the parking lot the next morning bright and early for Cheerio's practice she steals a glance at Brittany who is staring absentmindedly out the window. She hopes that today will go better than yesterday. Sure the rest of the afternoon and evening turned out okay, even though Brittany's parents had apparently gotten the memo about treating Brittany normally and wouldn't let her sleep over, but Santana is having a hard time forgetting how scared the blonde had looked in the cafeteria yesterday. It also isn't helping that Brittany has been pretty listless since Santana picked her up, of course that could just be because it's six am.

"Um, San we're here," Brittany interrupts her thoughts.

"What?" Santana asks confused because obviously she knows that they are here, she drove after all.

"Are we going to leave the car?" Brittany elaborates, "I think Coach Sylvester might kill us if we're late."

Santana realizes that she must have been pretty lost in thought and she can't help but laugh, "ya let's get going."

Santana has timed their arrival so that they won't be late but so that there shouldn't be anyone in the locker room, the last thing they need to deal with is a bunch of gossiping cheerleaders, so when they run into Quinn as they approach the building she is surprised.

"Hey S, Hey B," Quinn greats them, she's obviously been waiting.

"Hi Quinn," Brittany grins at the other blonde.

"So we really need to work on getting Coach Sylvester to cancel these six am practices, they're killing me," she tells them as they enter the school together, "especially because they're always on the same days as Glee practice. I mean, I can't stand listening to Rachel talk about herself even when I'm not tired."

"Totally," Brittany giggles.

Santana can't help but crack a smile, "ugh don't remind me. I pretend that Rachel Berry doesn't exist before eight am."

The giggling dies down as they enter the locker room. Just as Santana has planned, they are the only ones here. As she moves to put her stuff away in her gym locker she notices that Brittany doesn't follow her. When she turns around to find out why, she is alarmed to find that Brittany is standing just inside the entrance to the locker room doing the nervous lip chewing again. Santana can't understand what has happened, the blonde was perfectly fine and even laughing a minute ago.

On the other hand Quinn is pretty sure she knows exactly what the problem is, the last time Brittany was in this room she was with Beiste. Quinn shudders a bit at the memory and all she did was witness it, she can't image how Brittany feels. She quickly tries to rectify the situation, grabbing Brittany's hand and squeezing gently she tells her, "Why don't you give your stuff to Santana to put it away and come with me? I want to fill my water bottle before practice."

Santana doesn't really understand what Quinn is doing until she watches relief flicker across Brittany's face. Obviously something about the locker room is bothering Brittany and Santana is simultaneously angry at herself for not realizing it faster and thankful that Quinn reacted so quickly.

"Can you fill mine too?" She asks handing Quinn her practically full water bottle so as to leave no room for Brittany to consider saying no.

Luckily, Brittany doesn't need much convincing, she quickly hands over her stuff to Santana and Quinn leads her out of the locker room.

When they meet back up in the gym, Quinn pulls Santana aside while Brittany stretches.

"We need to talk," Quinn tells Santana, "that's actually why I was waiting for you. Well that and I wanted to see Brittany but…"

"You're rambling Fabray, spit it out" Santana tells her.

"We might have a problem," she starts but is interrupted by Coach Sylvester.

"Enough talking," Sue shouts into her bullhorn, "this isn't a slumber party, it's a cheerleading practice. Next person to talk is running laps until our next practice."

Since their next practice isn't until Monday, they don't say another word to each.

xxxxxx

When practice ends, the three girls exit the gym together. Artie, Mike, and Rachel are standing just outside the gym doors and the strangeness of the pairing makes it abundantly clear that they are waiting for them. Santana can feel her blood begin to boil, what part of 'quit acting weird around her' didn't they understand, but she doesn't get a chance to say anything because Quinn is speaking up.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" she asks but it doesn't really seem like she is surprised to see them here

"I need your help remember," Rachel starts and the overly dramatic way she emphasizes remember makes it clear that something is up.

"Oh I completely forgot that I told you I would help you," Quinn starts catching on quickly but not specifying what exactly she was supposed to help the other girl with, "can you help too Brittany?"

"Umm, I guess?" Brittany's answer is more like a question.

"Great thanks," Rachel says, "I knew I could count on you."

While Brittany is distracted by Rachel, Quinn leans in towards Santana and discreetly whispers, "let us take her, the boys need to talk to you." Santana isn't too keen on being separated from Brittany but she can't help but trust Quinn, especially after the incident in the locker room.

"Are you coming San?" Brittany asks as Rachel and Quinn start to lead her away.

"No I promised I'd help Artie reach really high stuff," she says and has to resist the urge to slap her palm to her forehead, usually she's a lot better at lying.

Luckily Brittany doesn't think there's anything suspicious about Santana's terrible excuse and she just heads off with Quinn and Rachel.

xxxxxx

Once the other three are out of site, Santana turns to the boys, "alright spill it."

"We had a football game last night," Artie starts and Santana interrupts.

"What do you mean you had a football game? It wasn't cancelled?" Santana is confused, Coach Sylvester never said anything to her yesterday about coming to a game and she never let the Cheerios miss cheering opportunities. Well, except for the week at the beginning of the term when she tried to boycott football, but Principal Figgins quickly ended that.

"No we still played," Mike says, "just without a coach," he adds quickly.

"Okay, well I still don't see what the big drama is with the whisking Brittany away and everything," Santana puts her hands on her hips, "She could probably handle hearing that you played football considering you are both on the football team."

"It's not that," Artie explains, "we lost, badly, and some of the guys are a bit pissed. Some of them were thinking they were going to get football scholarships."

"And I'm supposed to feel badly for them?" Santana asks now getting angry.

"No, no," Mike steps in, "we just wanted you to have the heads up so that you could maybe keep Brittany from hearing about it. Quinn and Rachel know and Puck and Finn are trying to take care of it, but we just thought we'd be extra cautious and get you involved."

The anger quickly fades from Santana's face. It really is nice how much the other Glee club members' care about Brittany, "thanks guys. I'll be on the lookout." And with that she heads off to find Brittany, Quinn and Rachel.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: There isn't too much of the story left now but after this chapter I'm back into parts of story that I'm not very happy with and it may take me a couple of days to get it sorted out.**

_**Chapter 10**_

She finds them rather quickly. They're standing in the center of a crowd of people and Quinn is in the middle of a screaming match with some football players. With the information that she has just got from Mike and Artie it doesn't take her long to figure out what is going. One of these asshole football players has said something completely inappropriate to Brittany; how dare he accuse her of being the reason they lost. The fury that Santana has been fighting down ever since she heard about Brittany and Beiste consumes her quickly and before she even realizes what she is doing she is pushing through the crowd and pouncing on one of the jocks.

"Please stop," a voice finally breaks through the rage induced haze around her brain. She realizes that this voice belongs to her best friend but what has really caught her attention is the emotion with which the plea is delivered. Brittany is typically indifferent to Santana's violent outbursts, sure she sometimes protests depending on who Santana has turned her wrath on, but these protests are usually fairly emotionless, like she knows that she can't really stop Santana. This time her protest is different and when Santana looks up she can see the tears starting to well in the blonde's eyes. Quinn is trying to comfort her but it doesn't seem to be helping much. Brittany's tears only make Santana want to hit the nameless jock on the ground harder. She's glad when she sees Puck and Finn approach, Rachel has obviously run to get them, and she's a little surprised when it's Finn and not Puck who tells her, "take care of Brittany, we'll finish dealing with these guys."

That is good enough for her, so she straightens herself up and approaches Brittany, who now has tears sliding down her cheeks. As she sees Santana nearing her, Brittany lets go of Quinn and holds out her pinkie. Santana ignores this, instead choosing to engulf Brittany in a hug. With her arms still securely wrapped around the blonde, she leads them away from the fight. As she passes Quinn she takes the time to nod gratefully at her.

At first Santana isn't sure where she is going but as they approach a familiar hallway she knows where take Brittany. She steers the other girl into the choir and is surprised to find that some of the Glee kids are in there. Their conversation immediately quiets at the sight of the two girls.

"What…" Kurt starts but at seeing Santana shaking her head he stops, "we were just heading out," he says instead, getting up and motioning for Mercedes and Tina to follow him. He doesn't say anything else and neither do Mercedes or Tina, who just smile sympathetically on the way out the door. However, Kurt does pauses for a moment reaching for Brittany's free hand and squeezing it gently before following the other two out of the room.

Once the others are gone Santana lets go of Brittany so that she can get the door shut and prop a chair up under the door handle to keep anyone else from coming in. That task complete she looks around the room for Brittany and is surprised to find that, instead of picking one of the chairs they usually sit in for practice, Brittany has chosen to sit on the floor against the wall. Santana doesn't question her choice and instead slides down beside her, once again wrapping her arms around the blonde. Brittany seems to melt into her and her tears quickly turn into full fledged sobs. Santana doesn't say anything, she just rocks her best friend gently and hums softly to her until the sobs quiet a bit.

"I'm sorry," Brittany finally manages to choke out.

"What are you sorry for," Santana asks her, "you've done absolutely nothing wrong."

"It's my fault."

"What is?" Santana asks for clarification.

"The football team loosing."

"No. It. Is. Not." Santana emphasizes each word, "Those meat heads don't know what they're talking about. They didn't lose that game because of you. They lost because they are bad at football."

"They don't have a coach because of me," Brittany whispers.

"They don't have a coach because of their coach not because of you," Santana tells her and she has to try very hard to keep the anger from her voice. It is clear that Brittany is ready to talk, at least a little, and Santana isn't going to screw that up by scaring her.

Brittany doesn't say anything for awhile and when she finally speaks it is so quiet that Santana almost doesn't here it, "I never said no."

At this statement Santana sits up a bit straighter, she doesn't completely let go of Brittany but she turns her so that they are facing each other, she needs to see Brittany's face, "did you say yes?"

"What?" Brittany asks confused.

"You didn't say no, but did you tell Coach Beiste that it was okay for her to touch you?" Santana clarifies.

At this Brittany shakes her head, the tears welling up again, "no".

"Then it doesn't matter if you didn't say no, it was wrong," Santana tells her confidently as she reaches to wipe away some of the blonde's tears, "and even if you had said yes it still would have been wrong. Coach Beiste is an adult and she took advantage of you."

"Really?" Brittany asks Santana and her eyes are wide, like she really hopes that this is true.

"Yes." Santana confirms squeezing Brittany's hand.

"Is that why it always made me feel so bad? Because I usually like when people touch my boobs."

Oh god. Santana has to struggle very hard to keep from screaming or bursting into tears. She's not sure if she doesn't want to hear anymore or if she needs to hear everything. She chooses her next words very carefully, "probably. Why don't you tell me about it?"

A myriad of emotions cross Brittany's face until her standard blank expression takes over. She seems to no longer be looking at Santana but past her, "At first I thought she was nice, I got lost in the locker room and she helped me find the exit, but she wasn't actually very nice at all…" Brittany trails off but continues after a moment, "I tried so hard to avoid her, I really did, but I couldn't. I think that maybe she has superpowers because no matter how hard I tried we always ended up alone in her office or in the locker room or somewhere and I was always so scared and she…." Brittany pauses again looking at Santana before going back to staring past her, "and then just like that she would have her hand up my shirt and she'd be touching my boobs and I wanted her to stop, I really really did, but it was like my voice didn't work and every time I thought I was going to say stop I just...I just didn't."

As Brittany pauses Santana can't help but go over and over in her head the number of times she left Brittany behind in the locker room. She thought she'd felt terrible before but that doesn't even come close to comparing to how she feels now. She doesn't get a chance to apologize though because Brittany is talking again.

"Mrs. Pillsbury keeps trying to get me to tell her why I didn't say anything but I really don't know the answer and it's not like in class where I can just copy off of you or Quinn," she stops and takes a deep shaky breath, "I make up reasons why sometimes in my head, like Puck wanting to win at football, or Mr. Schue saying that I would ruin a life, or Artie really wanting to be on the team…but really, I just don't know. You know I would picture telling someone sometimes, even practice what to say, but… I just couldn't." She stops again her eyes darting back and forth between the wall and Santana, "Besides she only touched my boobs…well I guess she touched my ass a couple of times too…but it's not like that big of a deal or anything anyways. I mean it's not like we had sex."

"Oh Brit," Santana sighs not knowing where to start. Brittany has gone back to staring past her and Santana gently turns her face so that she is looking at her. Brittany's expression is heartbreaking, she just looks so lost, "It is a big deal. I am so sorry that I didn't protect you from her. I shouldn't have left you alone so much. I know I already said this but I'm going to say it again because you need to understand okay, what happened isn't your fault and it doesn't matter that you didn't say anything, you shouldn't have had to. She never should have touched you. I'd kill her if I could"

"Don't do that," Brittany exclaims worriedly, "she might hurt you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Don't you worry about me," Santana tells her but seeing the look Brittany is giving her she adds, "I'm not going to do anything stupid okay."

"Okay," the blonde nods, going quiet again. After a while she finally admits, "I'm still scared".

"Of what?" Santana prods gently.

Brittany takes a breath, "The spider in my shirt won't move away…like it was all over my neck when we were in the locker room today" her eyes are wide and she honestly looks terrified, "Does that mean she is coming back?"

"No," Santana replies quickly, shaking her head back and forth to emphasize her point, "she is never going to touch you again. I promise."

Brittany looks perplexed now, "but if it's really over, why don't I feel better?"

Santana doesn't know what to tell her, "Well, if you believe Mrs. Pillsbury it's because healing is a process."

Brittany gives Santana a funny look, "Like cheese?"

"What?" It's now Santana's turn to be confused.

"My mom says sliced cheese is process right."

"Oh," Santana finally understands, processed cheese, "no not like that. It means it takes a long time."

Brittany contemplates this for a moment, "I don't want it to take a long time," she says and she looks at Santana hopefully.

"I know you don't," Santana tells her tucking a piece of the blonde's hair behind her ear, "I don't think you get to decide though."

Brittany sighs, "you're sure she's not coming back though?"

"Yes. I promised didn't I?" Santana reassures her.

"I guess." Brittany says but she's looking at the floor now and chewing nervously on her lip again.

"Hey, look at me for a minute," Santana urges and Brittany looks up, "I can't tell you when everything is going to be better but I can tell you that I am right here, I'm not going anywhere, and I'm going to get you through this. You're the most amazing person I know, things will get better you just wait and see, I promise." Santana tells her softly adding an, "I love you," as she pulls Brittany into a fierce hug.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Okay so when I said it might take a couple of days to get the last part up, apparently what I meant was more than a week, and I'm very sorry for the wait. I'm especially sorry because no matter how many times I tried, this pretty much ended up exactly the same as my original ending with the exception of one extra scene. For me the story was about Brittany being able to say out loud what happened to her and well after that I just wasn't sure where to go. Anyway, I think I'll quit rambling now and just say thank you to everyone for reading and for the reviews.**

_**Chapter 11**_

Will isn't surprised when he gets called down to the office. In all honesty, he had expected the call all day yesterday, especially after he had run into Jacob who looked a little worse for wear, but it had never come. He is surprised however when he shows up in Principal Figgins' office and, instead of finding one or two students, he finds all of his Glee club, with the exception of Brittany and Santana, there.

"What is going on?" he asks the group who just shrug at him.

Figgins is the one who explains to him what has brought his entire Glee club to the office, "those four," he points to Rachel, Quinn, Puck, and Finn, "were caught fighting members of the football team."

"It was self defense," Rachel says at the same time as Puck says, "They deserved it" and Quinn says, "They made Brittany cry."

"We don't tolerate violence at this school," Figgins tells them, "you'll all be suspended."

"What.." Rachel starts but Mr. Schue holds his hand up to stop her.

"Isn't that a bit drastic?" Will asks, "after everything that has happened this week don't they deserve a little leniency. Was anyone seriously injured?"

"I guess not," Figgins concedes, "maybe this one time we could make an exception to our strict no violence policy."

Everyone has to try hard not to roll their eyes, some succeeding better than others, because the school definitely didn't do a very good job of ever enforcing this apparent strict 'no violence' policy.

"Okay so that is settled," Will starts, "why is everyone else here?"

"They're refusing to go to class," Figgins' explains, "Apparently they want to be allowed to sit outside of your choir room indefinitely. Obviously, we cannot allow that, attendance is very important William."

Now Will is very confused, "You want to sit outside of the choir room?"

Kurt is the one who explains for everyone, "Santana and Brittany are in there and Brittany looked pretty upset. We are waiting outside until they're done for support. I'll call my dad and have him sign me out of class if I have to but there is no way you are keeping us from being there for our friends."

"Now now," Figgins starts, "there is no need to call your father," he has no desire to have another confrontation with Burt Hummel, that man could be terrifying. Plus he's had enough conversations with angry parents this week to last him the entire year. "I guess we could allow that, but just this once."

With that the Glee club marches out of the office and heads to take up their post outside of the choir room and Will just watches in awe.

xxxxxx

Santana and Brittany sit in silence for a long time before Brittany is finally ready to get up and leave. Santana examines the other girl carefully, her tears have long since dried but her eyes are still red rimmed. She doesn't look horrible but she has certainly looked better. Santana decides that they will stop off at the washroom before they decide if they are just going to go home or if they will attempt to go to class. However, all thoughts leave her brain as she opens the choir room door and Brittany halts in her tracks. The entire Glee club is sitting on the floor just outside of the room and they quickly stand up at the sight of the two girls.

"Hi," Brittany says softly somewhat confused at what is going on.

"Hi," Quinn responds for everyone, "you alright?"

Brittany shrugs and Santana scowls. Finally Brittany says, "I guess."

Quinn doesn't say anything else she just steps forward and embraces the blonde. Kurt quickly steps forward too, putting one arm around Brittany and the other around Santana. Slowly everyone, even a reluctant Puck, approaches and Brittany finds herself in the middle of a group hug.

The hug lasts several minutes before the group breaks apart. Brittany is grinning brightly at them and Santana's scowl is mostly gone.

"So who wants to not go to class today?" Finn asks the group to which everyone, even Rachel, raises their hand.

"What are we going to do?" Brittany asks Finn.

"I don't know," Finn tells her, he hadn't really thought that far ahead, just not going to class had seemed like a good idea.

"We could go shopping," Kurt suggests, to which Puck groans mumbling 'no fricken way'.

"We could go bowling," Artie suggests.

"When we're supposed to be in school?" Rachel asks him, "I'm fairly certain we would stand out like sore thumbs at a bowling alley on a Thursday morning. Do we want to get caught?"

Santana rolls her eyes but she knows where they should go and it isn't a bowling alley so she leaves Rachel alone and instead addresses the group. "We are going to the park." She doesn't offer it as a suggestion but as a demand.

Everyone sort of just stares at Santana incredulously until Brittany squeals in delight and declares, "I love the park."

"That settles it then," Quinn says, "let's get out of here."

xxxxxx

Later at the park Santana is sitting watching as a large portion of the glee kids chase each other around in a game of tag. Brittany is pushing Artie's wheelchair as she runs away from Puck and her laughter is music to Santana's ears.

"She looks happy right now," Quinn offers as a conversation starter, taking a seat beside Santana.

"She really likes the park, always has." Santana responds not taking her eyes away from Brittany.

"I know," Quinn responds, she's been friends with Brittany almost as long as Santana has, "Is she going to be okay?"

"Why are you asking me?" Santana asks sharply still not taking her eyes off of Brittany.

"I know she said something to you today and I'm not asking you to tell me what it was, I'm just asking if my friend is going to be okay." Quinn's answer isn't angry or defensive just explanatory.

Santana turns to look at the other girl now, her expression mostly unreadable, "it's bad but she'll be okay. I'm going to make sure she's okay."

"And what about you?"

"What do you mean, what about me?" Santana snaps in response.

"You're so busy taking care of her but what about you? You're putting all of this pressure on yourself to fix everything but is that really realistic? You don't have to do it all yourself. Look at them," Quinn waves in the direction of the tag game, "they want to be there for her too and they're not doing a bad job of it. It doesn't always have to be you and her against the world."

"It isn't," Santana whispers and now she just looks sad. She doesn't know why she reveals what she does next, maybe it's because it's Quinn, but she can't stop the words from escaping her mouth, "or at least it wasn't. This horrible thing was happening to her and I get that she couldn't say it out loud, couldn't tell, but I should have known. She's my best friend and I love her and I didn't know, don't you get that, I didn't know."

"No one did," Quinn offers quietly. She puts her hand on Santana's shoulder and is surprised when the other girl doesn't pull away.

"That doesn't make it better," Santana sighs.

"No it doesn't," Quinn agrees, "but you can't change what happened now, none of us can."

"I just…" Santana trails off, she doesn't know why she's letting herself be so vulnerable but maybe it's the memory of Brittany sobbing.

"You just what?"

"I promised I'd make it better but I'm not sure I know how."

"You do exactly this," Quinn tells her certainly, "you take her to the park with her friends, you listen to what she says, you admit that you're not some superhero, and you love her."

"That's all huh?" Santana says raising her eyebrow at the other girl but the look isn't quite as menacing as usual, probably because she's actually smiling.

Quinn chuckles a bit, "well that and I have another idea."

xxxxxx

They return to school as the final bell rings. After her conversation with Santana, Quinn quickly spreads the word to the rest of the group that they are going to come back for Glee rehearsal.

Mr. Schue doesn't say anything to them about their skipping class, he just smiles knowingly at them as they walk into the choir room together and take their seats. He can't help but notice that they've arranged themselves very similarly to the last time they were in the choir room together, which feels like a lifetime ago, with Brittany in the middle like they're protecting her. He also notices that Santana hasn't taken a seat.

"Can I say something Mr. Schue?" She asks him and when he agrees she goes on.

"Brittany," Santana starts making eye contact with the blonde, "I know you want to pretend what happened didn't but we can't because it did. What we talked about earlier, what I promised, I meant it. It's going to get better. I am going to make it better." Looking at Quinn, Santana rectifies her statement, "We're going to make it better. I want you to remember that and…well, since everyone else seems to think that the best way to show your support is through song, I thought I might try it." Pausing she adds, "If you don't like it blame Quinn it was her idea that I sign." With that she starts to sing the Chantal Kreviazuk song All I Can Do.

_When you're on your own_  
_When you're at a fork in the road_  
_You don't know which way to go_  
_There's too many signs and arrows_  
_You haven't laughed in a while_  
_When you can't even fake a smile_  
_When you feel ashamed..._  
_The uniform don't make you brave_

_All I can do_  
_Is love you to pieces_  
_Give you a shoulder to cry when you need it_  
_When the day is long and the night is coming down on you_  
_All I can do_  
_All I can do_  
_All I can do_

_When you forget your name_  
_The pleasure can't disguise your pain_  
_And you don't feel the same_  
_I won't forget the love you made_

_What a lovely day to shape your dream_  
_And you don't even have to sleep_  
_You can make it what you want to be_  
_You can fly away you can change your name_  
_Have a happy face_  
_It could be so real_

_All I can do is love you to pieces_  
_Give you a shoulder to cry when you need it_  
_When the day is long_  
_And the night is coming down on you_  
_All I can do_  
_It's all that I can do_

Santana finishes the song, watching Brittany intently for her reaction. She is relived when the blonde grins at her and quickly leaps forward embracing her in a hug, "Thank you. I love you too," she pulls back a bit looking Santana in the eye, "and don't worry I know everything is going to be better, you promised, and you never lie."

The rest of the Glee club approaches and for the second time today Brittany finds herself in the middle of a Glee group hug. Yes things are going to get better.


End file.
